About

Grand Avenue Arts & Preservation (GAP) is gearing up for the all day 9th Annual Grand Avenue Festival on November 11th, 2017. GAP advocates for the arts and preservation of Phoenix's Historic Grand Avenue and connects like­minded individuals, organizations and businesses.

Designated as Best Arts Festival by New Times in 2015, this eclectic, non-traditional walking Festival highlights the arts, small businesses, adaptive re­use, recycling, community and the unique history of Grand Avenue. The Festival is an all­ volunteer effort, including the staff.

We will once again be partnering with the Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts (PAPA) with their colorful grassroots community art parade. And will continue the tradition of fostering local bands; art installations in trees, on fences andother unexpected locations; historic building tours; fantasy flowers exhibited in the planters along the street created by students; mural projects; pop­up galleries; kid's activities; painted dumpsters; artist-designed “selfie stands”; wandering performers; food trucks and more.

The "Trashy Hat Promenade" and "Recycled Fashion Show" remain colorful highlights of the day's activities (along with a fashion show curated by Arizona’s “Hip Historian” Marshall Shore) with participants showing off fashions created from all kinds of recycled materials. Tours of Grand Avenue history & adaptive reuse projects remain a centerpiece, all free to the public!

For more info on how you, your family members, or your students can participate in Festival projects this year ­ like the Hanging Gardens and Woven Fences; the Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts (PAPA); the Untrashed Recycled RubbishFashion Show and Trashy Hat Promenade; or the Fantasy Flower project contact Beatrice at muppetsrealmom@gmail.com.

All the Best,

Beatrice Moore, Grand Avenue Festival, Director

Nancy Hill, Grand Avenue Festival, Assistant Director

Participating Venues

{9} The Gallery 1229 Grand Ave

11th Monk3y 1022 Grand Ave

Abe Zucca Gallery 1301 Grand Avenue

Abloom 1301 Grand Ave

Anderson Fine Art 701 N. 15th Ave

Black Hand Curios 1028 Grand Ave

BLACKSTAR 1018 Grand Ave

Braggs Pie Factory Bldg 1301 Grand Ave

Center 8 Townhomes 820 N 8th Ave

Chartreuse 1301 Grand Ave

Electrik Needle Tattoo 1028 Grand Ave #4

Fushicho Daiko Dojo 925 NW Grand Ave

Goat Heart Studio 1301 Grand Ave - on McKinley

Grand ArtHaus 1501 Grand Ave

Grand Avenue Pizza 1031 Grand Ave

Grand Avenue Records 1504 Grand Avenue

Grind House Coffee 1028 Grand Avenue, #6

Hazel & Violet - Letterpress 1301 Grand Ave #6 on McKinley

Irma's Kitchen 906 N. 15th Ave

Kustumz Haishop 1028 Grand Ave

Lady Luck Tattoo 1301 Grand Av

Motley Design Group 1114 Grand Ave

Oasis on Grand 1501 Grand Ave

Palabras Libreria 1023 Grand Avenue Studio B

Puppet Pie 1301 Grand Ave #4 on McKinley

Roberto Venn Luthiery 1012 Grand Ave

TCB 4AZ #3 1028 Grand Ave #3

The Bikini 1502 Grand Ave

The Chocolate Factory 1105 Grand Ave

Third Space 1028 Grand Ave

Trans Am Café 1506 Grand Avenue

Treehouse 1348 W. Roosevelt St

Tres Leches Café 1330 W Roosevelt

Unexpected Gallery 734 W. Polk St

Yoga Styles 1023 Grand Ave

{9} The Gallery

The Bikini Lounge

Chartreuse

Hazel & Violet

Thirdspace

Bragg's Pie Factory Building

Eleventh Monk3y

Grand ArtHaus

La Melgosa - Palabras Libreria & Yoga Styles

Abloom Salon

Lady Luck Tattoo

Roberto-Venn

Fushicho Daiko Dojo

Poster / Logo

Call to Artists

Get your art on!

Press Release

ART Cars!

Grand Avenue has always had a car-based history, so adding art cars to the Festival is a perfect fit. Organized by Art Car World and curated by Harrod Blank, “Arizona Art Car Exhibit” will be at Unexpected Gallery, 734 W. Polk St. There you’ll see eight elaborately decorated art cars, including Oh My God and the Camera Van by Harrod Blank of Douglas, AZ; The Ploppet by Claire and Kyle Johnson of Scottsdale; The Madonna Car by Jose Benavides of Chandler; the Owl Car by Kate Pearson of Bisbee; J Gurl by Diane Bombshelter of Tucson; the MondrianMobile by Emily Duffy, Douglas; and The Nevada Car by David Best and Patrick Dailey of Bisbee. In addition, there will be:

An exhibit of 20 Art Car photographs.

Art Car film Automorphosis by Harrod Blank showing at 2pm and 4:30pm During those screenings, Blank, Director of Art Car World in Douglas, also gives an overview of his process and signs his book Art Cars.

Curious how this all started? Well, in 1977 Harrod Blank was a Santa Cruz High School freshman and he really wanted a Mustang, but all he could afford was a $600 white 1965 VW bug. Frustrated, he painted a rooster on the passenger door (he was raising exotic poultry at the time). Astounded by his sudden popularity as the “Chicken Man,” he kept decorating his car. Over the years, the car became more personal and represented a totem of his identity. He learned about photography and film making from his documentarian father Les Blank, and as he learned of other people who created “Art Cars,” he began photographing and filming them. Today, he is building a museum for Art Cars—Art Car World—on the border of Mexico in Douglas, AZ.

Oh My God! Harrod Blank (at Burning Man)

The Madonna Car - Jose Benavidas

Mondrian Mobile - Emily Duffy

Camera Car - Harrod Blank

Nevada Car - Partick Daily

The Ploppet - Kyle and Claire Johnson

J-Girl - Diane Bombshelter

the owl car - Kate Pearson

Diane Bombshelter art

Diane Bombshelter

Diane Bombshelter - Squid

Jose Benavides - cacti sculptures

Jose Benavides - license plate sculpture

Jose Benavidas - Madonna Car close up

Kate Pearson - Hand Painted Alladin Plate

Kate Pearson - hand painted camel plate

Kate Pearson

The Map / The Guide

PAPA

Hanging Gardens / Woven Fences

Hanging Gardens and Woven Fences -

Art installations made from recyclables displayed in trees, on fences, posts, and other unexpected locations, lend an air of excitement and discovery to this non-traditional walking Festival. Visitors can find project maps at any of the info tables.

Attendees will hear fascinating stories on how adaptive re-use and historic preservation projects have succeeded in the Historic Grand Avenue area, and can ask questions of various property owners. Tours begin at 9am, 10am and 11am and last approximately 2 hours and meet in front of 1229 Grand.

Taste of Grand Avenue

Untrashed Recycled Fashion Show and Trashy Hat Promenade

The Untrashed Recycled Fashion Show and Trashy Hat Promenade, headed up by local performance artist Babs A’Delic each year, is a popular mainstay of the Grand Avenue Festival.

Ms. A’Delic’s whimsical fashion show, with fashions created from recycled materials and other discarded items, begins at the PAPA stage at Unexpected Gallery at 734 W. Polk Street at 3pm, promenading along Grand Avenue, traveling north to the courtyard at Thirdspace, 1028 Grand, for the judging and prizes. Fashions are created from newspapers, stuffed animals, plastic juice containers, foil, cardboard, playing cards, paper, cloth, caution tape, plastic bags, cat food bags, and a variety of other “trash”.

Fashion by the Movies

Arizona’s “Hip Historian”Marshall Shore, and WEARizona, will present 'Fashion by the Movies’, comprised of designers who were assigned films like The Women, Blade Runner, and Hell Raiser for their fashion theme. Fashions from Redhead Sadie, Hamati Design, and Hell on Heels Couture will be presented at 8pm during After Hours at Unexpected Gallery, 734 W. Polk St. All Festival activities are free. Check WEARizona.org for more information.

The Festival has evolved into a premier local celebration of the DIY spirit by highlighting adaptive reuse and recycling as an art form, a concept that evolved from efforts to preserve the small-scale commercial architecture vital to the area’s stability, and a desire to showcase art made from recyclables and events that enhance the public space.